I have discovered an area of criminal law that I enjoy: The Petition for Postconviction Relief, which is also called a “Rule 32 Petition.”
Postconviction Relief (Rule 32 Petition) is a great way to get clients out of prison or to avoid deportation.
My first experience on a Petition for Postconviction Relief as a defense attorney was for a client who had been wrongly informed of the range of punishment for her case.
The client in question had been told that her case was not governed by the Sentencing Standards. It was, and those standards recommended a shorter sentence than she was told applied to her case. Meanwhile, the Bill of Rights guarantees that a person has the right to be correctly informed of the range of punishment.
This client was in prison until we got her Postconviction Relief. Now, she’s free.
Another client we got released was in prison on a conviction that violated his right against Double Jeopardy. He hired us to file a Rule 32 petition and we got him released from prison.
Going from being a state inmate to a free person is the ultimate form of Postconviction Relief.
A more recent client is a legal—I stress legal–immigrant to the United States. This is the most admirable immigrant you could imagine.
He fled a crime-plagued, poverty-stricken country and came to our country legally. He owns a business, practices a skilled trade and worked hard to get a license to do so, is parenting stepchildren as if they were his own, and does volunteer work through his church. This person unquestionably is an asset to our country.
Meanwhile, this person got tricked into unknowingly carrying a package that he didn’t know contained marijuana. And got convicted of Drug Trafficking for it.
This person also was not informed of the consequences of his case. When he went to renew his visa, he learned that the conviction meant that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service would deport him.
He hired us to file a Rule 32 petition seeking postconviction relief because he had been deprived of his constitutional rights.
Because this person was not informed of the immigration consequences of his case, he received postconviction relief.
There are strict time limitations on Rule 32 petitions. Some must be filed within two years after the conviction became final and some must be filed within one year. If you have a loved one in prison or a conviction on your record that you want off, it’s important to talk to an attorney as soon as possible.
Supposedly, the petition for postconviction relief is hard to win, but a person with a righteous petition and a lawyer who understands the rules can win.
Information about Rule 32 petitions for postconviction relief can be found at: https://judicial.alabama.gov/docs/library/rules/cr32_1.pdf
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